Since there’s a good chance you’re hearing about Shantae for the first time, here’s a bit of background. Shantae is the name of the half-genie main character who carves through enemies with her destructive ponytail, and belly dances to transform into mythological creatures, animals, swords… and well, pretty much anything. There aren’t many games that include the art of sensual dance as a main game mechanic, but Shantae pulls it off nicely.

The gameplay is best compared to Super Metroid or Castlevania Symphony of the Night, but with the visual styling of WayForward’s own Ducktales: Remastered. WayForward puts its traditional feature film style animation in the front row along side rock solid gameplay, which has its roots firmly planted in the 8 and 16 bit era of classic gaming. WayForward’s engine moves the game along at a 60 frames per second in full HD.

The game is described as a “fresh start” for the series, making it an ideal entry point for new players. Half-Genie Hero is humorous, flirtatious, and like many WayForward games takes an off-the wall approach to boss and character design. The series is sometimes self-referential, and features a dominantly female cast of friends, foes, and monsters… with a few guys, puppies, and cyclopses thrown in for good measure. Platforming, exploration, customization, puzzles and item usage form the backbone of every Shantae game.

Shantae Half-Genie Hero is being developed by WayForward, with compositions by Jake (Virt) Kaufman and additional artwork by Mega Man developer Inti Creates — plus animation talent best known for Skullgirls! The game was in pre-production for over a year, and was recently crowd funded on Kickstarter, and is now making its way to full production for an expected October 2014 release. With one day left in Shantae’s Kickstarter campaign, there are still Stretch Goals to be met, so consider stopping by to see the game in action.